Marra's — Restaurant in Philadelphia

My family and I've been going here for over twenty years, and we all use to really love this place a lot. I want to still love it, but I think it's just not possibly any longer. The last four or five times I've been here, things have changed. Food quality is not nearly as good as it use to be, and the staff seem not very concerned about their customers any longer. Please read this review, try to fix this A.S.A.P., unless you want to continue losing life-long customers. Once again, we all use to love your restaurant, and we want to once again. We hope you change your ways and go back to the way things used to be. Have a Blessed Day...

Update 12-17-19: I decided to give this place another shot again this evening, and it was quite disappointing to say the least. We ordered the chicken parmesan, and it was way over-cooked and very dry. It was also a much smaller portion than it used to be. The wait staff and wait staff helpers were poorly trained and provided awful service this evening. They took away our plates and silverware while we were still waiting for our pizza which never came and then the pizza was finally delivered to our table we had to ask for plates and silverware. We continuously had to ask for more water as nobody ever came back to check on us. At the end, they asked us if we were ready for our check, but we had wanted to order some dessert, so we decided to order it even though our waitress was about to give us our check without asking if we wanted any dessert. It kind of felt as though we were there as the restaurant was about to close up for the evening and everybody could not wait to leave, but it was only about 7 o'clock in the evening. I am not writing this review to be angry at this restaurant, I am simply writing this review in hopes they will change their ways of doing business and go back to the way they used to be for the past 100 plus years. Have a Blessed Holiday Season..... David B.

Update again 12-29-19: It is quite evident they are not very concerned about a 25 year customer who had targeted countless people to thid restaurant, and all of the hundreds of people who read these reviews daily, as they seem only concerned to respond back to the good reviews, not the most important ones, the ones where people are disappointed for one reason or another. Their priorities are obviously mixed up, they need to focus more on the customers who are dissatisfied. While thanking the happy customers for there patronage. I surely don't need to tell you how to run your business, and this will be my last comment. Have a Happy New Year. Take care and...

Simply the very best pizza you'll ever eat. Period.

Our family has been eating at Marra's since the late 1970's; and many times I stop off on the way home from the airport for my "pizza fix" after a road trip. What's more, it's where I introduced the Vidalia onion to Philadelphia all the way back in c.1983 -- More on that in a moment.

What makes Marra's pizza crust so good is the garlic-infused olive oil used when they make the dough early every morning; and then it's baked in their incredible 10 foot deep Italian lava oven for a couple minutes in the back at 1000°, then brought to the front to finish off at 300° or so.

What's more, Marra's is a traditional Philly pizza joint, where you can bring in your own topping and they'll put it on your pizza. Most of the time, it's homemade sausage or pepperoni; but back in the early 1980's when I was living in Atlanta I brought home a 20 lb bag of Vidalia onions, which at the time you couldn't get within 300 miles of the Mason-Dixon Line. Now, if you've never eaten a Vidalia onion, it's so sweet it's like biting into an apple -- There's a mineral missing in the Lowndes County (Georgia) soil that keeps acid from forming in the onions as they grow.

I brought in a big Vidalia onion to go on our pizza, and when the cook was chopping it he tasted a bit, just to see what was so special about this onion. He called Mario (the owner) over and said "you have got to taste this!"

So, Mario brings out our garlic and Vidalia onion pizza, and of course we invite him to sit down and enjoy a slice -- He was hooked! So, a few days later I returned with about half of the 20# bag for him to play with; and when he served Ed Rendell a caprese salad with just slices of tomato and Vidalia onions with basil, the sweet onion from south Georgia took off, becoming at first a cult hit.

Since at the time the crop is limited, it was just a smattering that first summer, only in upscale restaurants. However, my cousin & his (late) father-in-law are the "tomato guys" down at the Food Distribution Center, so the following season (circa 1984) it was easy for them to bring in a trailerload of these babies... And that is the story on how, almost 40 years later, the Vidalia Onion is in your...

When my friend picked this place I thought it was a great idea because we're have some really good restaurants in South Philly... After all it's E.Passyunk restaurant week. A chance to sample great good from some place new. The neighborhood is known for great Italian restaurants but this was not the case sadly. Let's start with our 7:30 reservations, we weren't seated till 8pm. We were seated, friendly server and staff. 2 of our party ordered "old fashioned" that tasted like old bitters. We ordered appetizers that were decent. A few of us had mussels in white sauce and the others had the fried calamari. Next what's the entrees. The Shrimp, clam and crab Fra Diavolo taste it mostly of hot pepper flakes and not seafood. The sauce was otherwise bland. We were informed they didn't have any of the Shirt Rib ravioli so myself and another 2 guests order the Veal Carciofi. It was terrible... The veal although pounded thin was very tough and chewy. The posts and sauce was bland with no flavor. We started dipping the pasta in the leftover sauce from the mussels that had more flavor. It was so bad one of the guest didn't even want to take it home and only touched half a piece of veal on her plate. The guest who ordered the Chicken Maximo said the chicken was okay but again the pasta and sauce had no flavor. We all took our desserts home. Personally I don't like cold chocolate cake. The only reason I gave 2 stars for our server Giuseppe he was on point friendly and attentive. Thank you. But sadly I won't be bringing family or anybody else here. Italian food while having simple ingredients is supposed to have in-depth and complex flavors sadly lacking...